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Lama Zopa Rinpoche having lunch at Vajrapani Institute with staff, members and others, California, US, November 2015. Photo by Ven. Sherab.
“People always advertise their goods as the best: ‘Mine is best!’ How do you decide what to choose? What are you going to believe? If you make the wrong choice, you will be cheated. You will obtain something of poor quality and lose out. The solution is, you should use your own wisdom, and learn to differentiate the qualities of the goods. It is similar in the case of religion,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised a Native American leader with some confusion about her tradition’s religious beliefs.
“Religion can be extremely dangerous. If you choose a mistaken path, you can be cheated for your whole life. Not only that, you are also cheated for many future lives, because you will make mistakes in this life, and how the future turns out depends on this life. Whether your future lives will be good or bad, right or wrong, depends on how you lead this life. It is extremely dangerous if you are wrong. If you are wrong, you can destroy so many future lives, and cause unfortunate rebirths and suffering in hell or animal realms. Even if you are born as a human being, you will have wrong beliefs, heresy, hallucinations, believe wrong things are right; like believing that there is no such thing as liberation, that poison is medicine, that medicine is poison, and that the right path is the wrong path and the wrong path is the right path. Then, that affects your next life. It is very dangerous, not only for yourself, but also if you lead others in wrong views. You bring so many sentient beings to suffering in the lower realms, in hell and as hungry ghosts.
“Everybody believes their religion is the best. However, it is extremely important to analyze with your own wisdom. Therefore, develop your wisdom. Buddhism is extremely beneficial. Buddhism is able to discriminate between right and wrong, not only in terms of religion, but for anything in life. If parents have Buddhist knowledge, they can judge what is right and wrong for their children. Otherwise, children engage in the causes of suffering. They get stuck in suffering and problems in this life, and also in future lives. So, it is very helpful to understand Buddhism. Even if you don’t practice it, it gives such a very clear view. When you look at other religions and can determine what is right and what is mistaken, even if you are not Buddhist, this knowledge can help a lot.
“Religion should be compassion. Anything that harms others is not good, for example, sacrificing animals. Don’t do things that harm others. If you harm others, then other sentient beings will harm you. Similarly, if you benefit others, then you will receive benefit from other sentient beings. This is the law of nature, like when you plant a seed and it grows up to be a tree with branches and fruit. You can practice another religion, but don’t harm others.
“You can teach your people about wisdom and the good heart. You can pass on your knowledge and wisdom to others, about compassion and positive attitudes that help you to do good for others. This way, they will experience so much happiness in this life and future lives as a result of their positive actions, which is good karma.
“Religion is for happiness, not suffering. What brings happiness and peace in one’s life and in the lives of others: these are the real religions.”
From “Dangers of Religion,” an advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche posted on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/dangers-religion
Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.